Richard Tabbut: Beverly City Council Candidate Profile

BEVERLY, MA — Richard Tabbut is seeking his first term as a Beverly At-Large City Councilor in hopes of bringing an independent voice to the council.

The 63-year-old retired controller is a graduate of UMass-Boston with a management and accounting degree.

He told Patch that affordable housing, traffic congestion and infrastructure improvements will be among his main focuses if elected.

The citywide general election is on Nov. 2.

Campaign website

RichtabbutforBeverly.com

Why are you seeking elective office?

My daughter could not afford to buy a starter home in Beverly because it was too expensive. Also, I have lived here my entire life and know the city very well. I believe we need a new independent voice on the city council. I have no allegiances to any of the existing members and have an open mind about various issues facing the city.

The single most pressing issue facing our city is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

The most pressing issue facing the city is congestion. Wherever you drive in the city there is gridlock at rush hour and different times of the day. I intend to look at ways to reduce car traffic in the city with new ideas. Possibilities include restricting large new developments that include cars, repaving roads and sidewalks to improve walking opportunities in the city, and changing the configuration of Cabot and Rantoul Streets to be one-way.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I am retired so I can dedicate all of my energies to constituent services. We have wonderful candidates running for office for City Council At-Large but they all work full-time jobs during the day.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)

We need more transparency in city government. Communication is lacking. The Facebook, city webpage, and other means of communication to city residents are unacceptable. Otherwise, I commend them for their service to the city.

How do you think local officials performed in responding to the coronavirus? What if anything would you have done differently?

I think overall they did a great job. We need to work on getting everyone vaccinated with whatever means are available to the city.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

The top two issues are roads and COVID relief. We need to publish how it is determined specifically which roads are going to be paved and the criteria used to determine this. Residents ask me all the time why the city has not done this. Good question. COVID has decimated our residents and business community. We need to allocate relief funds to assist businesses in Beverly to get them back to pre-pandemic levels ASAP.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I have worked as a small business financial professional throughout my career. I will work to expand the budget process so that every resident can see where their hard-earned taxpayer dollars go by expanding the information available to all city residents.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

Be kind. Fix the problem, not the person.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I am an honest person who is running for the first time for public office. I do not plan to use the office as a stepping stone to another position. I will return phone calls ASAP and e-mails, texts, etc.

It would be my honor to serve you on the Beverly City Council.